Commentary and analysis on American politics, culture, and national identity, U.S. foreign policy and international relations, and the state of education
- from a neoconservative perspective! - Keeping an eye on the communist-left so you don't have to!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

This is why I covered it. Reading the morning newspapers on yesterday's illegal immigrant march in Phoenix, you'd think it was just a nice outing for families to stand up against Arizona's SB 1070. But this was no weekend picnic. The event was more about revolution and reconquista than about "immigration reform." The Arizona Republic, CNN, and the New York Times all publised blasé reports, riddled with inaccuracies and omissions. And check the screencap at yesterday's Los Angeles Times below. It's hard to find a better image that captures the media's pro-illegal immigration reporting: "A girl waits to join the march through downtown Phoenix." See how seemingly normal things appear. The editorial choices made by MSM functionaries are staggering sometimes:

To put it mildly, the press didn't report the whole story. Here's the scene as the crowd gathered at 8:00am at Indian School Park in Phoenix. This image better captures the tone of the day's events. Behold Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as KKK terrorist:

Or as the state's "Abuser #1":

Here's the message from the "Mexica Movement," with some of the group's signs below:

We the Nican Tlaca, the Indigenous people of this continent, demand that you (white people on our continent) stop your pretense that we are foreigners on our own continent. Stop pretending that your borders that separate our people have any legitimacy. Stop pretending that you are moral or just in the genocide you perpetrate against us. Remember that all of the evil laws that Hitler and the Nazis made against Jews and Gypsies were totally legal and within the framework of their government’s democracy. Remember that all of the evil of Hitler was supported by the majority of the German people, including all of the discrimination and ethnic cleansing, including the holocaust.

Claiming to be "non-profit," the group sold smaller placards. The minature version of this one, with Arizona flag and Swastika, was popular among marchers:

Throughout the day chants and exhortations decried European colonialism, for example, "WE DIDN'T CROSS THE BORDER ... THE BORDER CROSSED US!!"

Everywhere you looked you found Nazi excoriations:

L.A's neo-communist International ANSWER contingents were on the ground ...

... putting the pressure on for mass amnesty:

That "WE DIDN'T CROSS THE BORDER" slogan wasn't just found among the obvious extremist groups. Lots of everyday folks were spouting this nonsense. But the mainstream press isn't giving you these images, which were too numerous to photograph:

Marchers routinely carry the Mexican flag above the American flag:

Like a bee to honey, this lady swarmed right over to the reconquista table, hanging out there for a while:

And none of the MSM reports indicate that Ron Gochez was a leading organizer of the day's events. Remember Gochez from the viral YouTube last month? I spoke to him personally. I told him I'd seen him on television (with Griff Jenkins on Fox) and he gladly posed for photos:

His comrades proudly marched with Aztlan-style banners and Mexican flags:

The "indigenous" people were all around, but the media's not reporting their call to expropriate the "colonialists." Nice people --- with a radical message:

The Big Labor/Open Borders lobby was well-represented:

The unions bused in scores of Latino families:

They hung back in the shadows while their organizers spouted attacks on "racism" and "white supremacy":

As the procession begins ...

... marchers are met by revolutionary socialist organizers:

Temperatures reached the mid-90s. Mexican businessmen ignored the class-struggle rhetoric and went about selling their products. Folks like ice cream when it's hot out:

Some protesters joined the march as the procession made its way south down 3rd Street. See what I mean about Sheriff Joe Arpaio? The media malpractice is stunning. Where's the reporting? This kind of signage was ubiquitous along the route:

Moving along, I spotted this ominous banner:

Turns out that a band of anarchists had infiltrated the march. This woman was paranoid, obviously alarmed I was taking her picture:

It's understandable, considering the group's strong message on no borders:

One of their thugs threatened me with violence, getting in my face next to the sidewalk. Still, I wanted to get another shot of their biggest banner, only partially readable here: "INDIGENOUS PEOPLE FOR MIGRANT RIGHTS." And "SOLIDARIDAD," with the anarchist's "A":

Continuing along, some of the most potent signs were carried by immigrant families themselves:

I'd be surprised if a majority of those protesting weren't illegal immigrants, and even in Arizona I guess folks aren't too worried about deportation. Will President Obama deliver on amnesty? Marchers are betting on it. (Recall that the press is now calling illegal aliens "unauthorized migrants.") You can't make this stuff up, although the MSM refuses to report the big picture:

I fault the organizers of the march for planning a 5-mile protest route in extremely hot weather. Things got scary for some families. And I felt bad for the mothers I saw (with swaddled babies or fully-clothed toddlers) who obviously weren't educated on the dangers of heat stroke for infants and young children. Many families were stopping, caring for kids who were clearly overcome by the heat. I'm serious about this. A 2-mile march starting 9:00am would have been an improvement, with just as much media coverage. As it was, at 2:00pm people were still marching downtown to the government seat. The fire department was responding to heat-related emergencies all day. Not even the availability of ice-cold water along the route can excuse putting families at risk for political gain:

Campaign signs along the protest route. Governor Jan Brewer's running for another term. She's attacked as Hitler (see below), but of course the Nazi dictator suspended the electoral process after coming to totalitarian power in 1933. Facts weren't relevant to the marchers:

Latin American revolutionary iconography is everywhere along the march:

Immigration, naturalization, and passport services are widely available in downtown Phoenix:

But open-borders activists want you to believe it's all a nightmare:

Passing the Arizona Republic's building downtown. They had reporters on the ground, but I don't think they wanted to actually walk in the shoes of the migrants (like I did) --- or if they did, they ain't saying what's really going down:

Passing the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. District Court in downtown Phoenix. Illegals could face deportation hearings here, but the migrants marched past without even noticing. The day's incommensurabilities were simply mind-boggling:

And it's not like Arizona authorities weren't concerned with unlawful activity, violence, or unrest. The Arizona Republic's report was sure to indicate the "heavy police presence," which apparently included police detachments on the roofs (on top here, at the state supreme court building toward the end of the protest). And you can see why. The crowd was massive, perhaps even in the tens of thousands:

I didn't stay long. As I took this photo the speaker was denouncing the theft of Mexican lands, in both English and Spanish. (In fact, most of the speeches and protest chants were in Spanish --- I didn't feel at home in my own country.)

Protesters weren't allowed on the grounds of the state legislature. I did come all this way, so nice tourist pic, in any case:

Yet another attack on Governor Jan Brewer:

The Spartacist League was on hand once again:

Demonstrators put on a flourishing conclusion for the press:

More Nazi demonology as the marchers turn the corner. I almost missed getting a shot of this one:

Walking back to the Hyatt Hotel downtown (to catch a cab back to the Indian School Park), here's a sign advertising English lessons in Spanish. Hey, maybe pretty soon folks won't need 'em:

Stay tuned for an additional report on the Stand With Arizona event at Diablo Stadium. The media's getting that one wrong as well.

For as much as you criticize the media for not giving fair and balanced coverage, you liken yourself to them, then go off on your own extremes, many of which are just as unwarranted as the nazi declarations you've documented here.

Your blog is littered with such proclamations that don't provide sources, quotes, and so forth- hardly anything in here allows people to draw conclusions other than those that you've declared yourself.

There are extremists on both sides of this debate, and I'd be interested to see how many of the thousands of people there you documented that were exercising (as you do) their freedom of speech in a way that was meaningful and reasonable.

For example, I could easily paint the tea party movement in the same light. There are plenty of good folks who are using it to express their discontent with the current administration and state of affairs in the USA in general, in a balanced, logical manner. But, there are also a number of morons in the tea party who are far more outspoken.

Should they succeed in taking the western states back, who do they expect to continue paying entitlements, welfare, healthcare and such? They leave Mexico because they cannot survive there, but want the entire west coast to be like Mexico?

Some people just don't have the capacity to think before they make demands. If they did, they wouldn't fight so hard to impoverish the continent, ending what they now receive for nothing in return.

Donald, glad you weren't attacked like blogger blazingcatfur was in Canada. Of course, the AZ police are a little braver than the quaking Canuck cops and their countrymen who can never even get into the Stanley Cup Finals! Canada has already been suborned by the cowardice of its citizens, but at least the Arizona citizens won't go down and let the neighboring narco-crimestate take it over without a fight. Read the New Yorker about the drug traffickers this week. Even that socialist agitprop mag has to admit that Mexico is a country ruled by criminals with a government that is unable to stop the Drug Lords and their paid judges and prosecutors.

Don't let that happen here, and the OK corral should be dedicated to the Treaty of Guadelupe/Hidalgo---long may POTUS Polk live in American history as a real hero.

Look at the shoeshine boy we have in the White House attacking Israel and bowing to King Abdullah, Hamas, and Hugo Chavez, his obvious mentors in foreign policy!!!

LEW WATERS - Excellent point! They hate the (CASH) cow, but want to lay claim to the "Teet."

JOHN P - Has anyone in the "Main(LAME)stream" Media actually reported what is actually in the bill? Holder and Napolitano haven't read the bill, they like many "Who are outraged" are relying on "Word of mouth" and are spreading the "Urban Myths" of Arizona's SB 1070.

Did I see any police? swat? as I saw on the 200+ senior citizens who had the swat called on them by the boy in the oval office, or at least he asked someone to call. They need to leave the USA, illegals that is. Do nothing but trash the country. They break into things more quickly than the common thieve. One damages my new truck pretty badly attempting to pry the door open. I've illegals give me the finger, yell curse words. If they want to be such nice morally sound upstanding humans why don't they rebuild their own country instead of showing their inability to function by taking something already established then fighting the very people and country who sustains them?

How is it possible that these people do not understand that the language of the Arizona law exactly mirrors EXISTING FEDERAL law? This law is not new, the federal government just hasn't been doing it's job by enforcing it. No other country in the world allows people to freely cross it's borders and not only stay, but utilize social services. It's no wonder we aren't seeing these types of pics from the MSM. They make it obvious that these people are crackpots and are not to be taken seriously.

When I was in Phoenix earlier in the week prior to the protest, the hotel in which I stayed was full of folks who had bused in from Sonora (buses in parking lot). I asked one of them why they were in town and was told that it was for the rally. Hmmmm.... The restaurant at breakfast reminded me of Mexico. Very little English spoken. I understand your comment about feeling like a stranger in your own country.

Ah, this is why I come here to read your blog, Don: "hang illegals", "Canadians are pussies", people in the South are "degos" apparently (at least Philippe is a polite religious bigot) and the first black president of the United States is a "shoeshine boy".

And by moderating comments you've tacitly approved of each thought. Now call me a "troll" and delete this (would it have helped me fit in if I'd bitched about Mexican drug lords whilst ignoring the fact that they only send drugs here because Americans buy them?).

JBW, while there is merit in your claim of "they only send drugs here because Americans buy them," does it escape you that the very ones crying for amnesty and open borders just might be those who desire those illegal drugs?

No, that has not escaped me Lew but I'd wager that the vast majority of those "crying for amnesty and open borders" are most likely doing so in relation to immigration rather than illegal drugs. How would an amnesty bill help drug lords? It seems quite a stretch to assume that support for amnesty for Mexicans in this country illegally is an indication of involvement in the drug trade.

Some of us do favor securing our borders (airports, shipping ports and coastlines as well) even as we believe that it's none of the government's business what an adult puts into their own body. You see, what also hasn't escaped me is that the very ones crying about the power drug lords enjoy and the violence they cause are often times adamant supporters of the government's paternalistic War on Drugs, which keeps drugs illegal and the drug lords rich and powerful. I point to my good buddy Don Douglas here as Exhibit A in this respect.

As to your last point, I encourage everybody here to buy American whenever possible; it's good for the economy and good for the country. Put those drug lords out of business by supporting California's largest cash crop. USA!

Being half Creek Indian, and all American War Vet, I am glad to share my land with any who are legal, I don't care what race, or color you are, if you follow the rules welcome, if not go to hell with your placards in your hands.

You just need to take your taco, monkey meat eating, donkey sexing selves back where you BELONG.If I am not mistaken there was a war fought for this land to be free from the tyranny , and squaloryou now live in. The Americans, Texans,and UNITED STATES Patriots won.

If there has to be another you will lose that one too. We have a little more than The Alamo now.

God Bless all the Beasts, and Children, most of you are the beasts let your children grow up to be good legal citizens of the UNITED STATES our country not yours....

I find it interesting that none of your readers have responded to my earlier comment about the busloads from Sonora which I observed at the hotel in Phoenix of which one individual from the group stated to me that they were there for the rallies. Perhaps they are geographically challenged and didn't realize that Sonora is a state in Mexico. It is directly south of Arizona. Most of the people in the group were from Hermosillo but, some were from other cities in Sonora.

It is not uncommon for busloads of Mexican citizens to come to the US for shopping and tourism. I have encountered this in El Paso where the company for which I previously worked had a store. It was great to see the busloads of Mexican citizens come to the store because they spent lots of money and it was all cash. Those were typically day excursions from Juarez.

Perhaps it wasn't that your readers are geographically challenged, it could be that they doubted my veracity. I wish that I had pulled out my handy-dandy Blackberry and photographed the buses but alas, in that I failed.

Or, perhaps they didn't catch the significance of Mexican citizens busing to Phoenix in order to participate in a protest against a U.S. law. Or, maybe they really don't care. I guess that such things really aren't important in the overall scheme of things. It's not really about Border Security or about illegal activity such as drug smuggling and human trafficking -- not to mention the terrorists freely crossing the border -- no, it's all about votes. The ranks of welfare recipients are a mighty base for the Dem's. Perhaps they see the influx into Arizona as an opportunity to move it to a Democratic voting block that ultimately would defeat McCain.

I saw documents from the Border Patrol listing the nationalities of those caught crossing illegally. The list of countries is amazing. It included Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Sudan, Indonesia, China, Iran, Iraq and many others.

Philippe, you know I like you dude so I'm open to the possibility that the word "dego" has a different meaning to Swedes than it does here in the States but the fact that you share a continent with Italy makes me wonder. At least you seem to be off the whole "Obama is the Anti-Christ" kick for the moment.

Ken, thank you for proving my original point. I thought "shoeshine boy" would be hard to top but "take your taco, monkey meat eating, donkey sexing selves back where you BELONG" filled the bill nicely. And careful what you say about the Alamo, yo: we Texans take that shit pretty seriously.

Lew, I think that it's you who is failing to grasp my larger point. You posited that people crying for amnesty and open borders are doing so because they desire illegal drugs and I'm saying that I believe their primary concern is immigration rather than drug smuggling or consumption. Whether that immigration is legal or illegal, while an important topic of discussion, has nothing to do with my point.

I'm quite sure drug lords like it that our border security is so lax but I doubt very many of them were at Don's protest rally, just as I doubt that the vast majority of the people who were at the rally have a vested interest or much involvement in the drug trade.

Chris' point about the Democrats keeping border security lax in order to put illegals on welfare to get votes is somewhat foolish since illegal immigrants don't qualify for welfare and can't vote here but the Dems have dragged their feet on border security because many Hispanics can vote and most of them vote Democratic. Of course Republicans have controlled both houses of congress and the White House for the majority of the last decade and they did next to nothing to solve this problem either but their reasons for that are about providing cheap labor for the business interests and industries that contribute to their campaigns more than getting actual votes, hence both parties are part of the immigration problem (just as both are also responsible for the War on Drugs problem as well).

JBW: Foolishness perhaps, but, what does it take to become a registered voter? Not much. That's why there are movements to enact laws requiring a DL or some other form of ID at polling places. Oh, and welfare fraud? I suppose that also is non-existent. Illegal documents are about as easy to come by as it is to cross the border. The same coyotes that provide the means for travel also can provide SS cards and about any other necessary document. Have a baby in the U.S. and it is a citizen. Doesn't take long to swell the rolls.....

Chris: That's nice that you're engaging JBW, but the dude's got no consistent ideological thinking. Basically, as long as JBW can get stoned and attack the state as "paternalistic", a flood of indigenous supremacists is no BFD. And hey, added bonus is that Obamabanista is down with that!

I was at this march against sb1070.>...It was an amazing gathering of the people for the cause..This law affects more than immigrants.If implemented it could effect you. And i guess you are saying how ? Everyone should READ SB1070...then maybe you will understand.

anonymous, i dont know if you are aware but for many of the immigrants who you say should march and protest in their own country for a better life, they cant do that. in many of their home countries if you do such things you face the possibility of harassment, persecution, and even death.

(cont. from last comment) As to your points, I'm OK with requiring some form of ID at polling places but I believe that it should be issued for free by the government to keep from disadvantaging the poor. I don't think that American citizens should be required to pay any amount of money in order to engage in the democratic process.

And obviously welfare fraud is a real problem that needs to be addressed but I'd wager that the vast majority of that fraud is perpetrated by American citizens as opposed to illegal immigrants (I can't find any stats on this so if you can and want to refute this assertion I'm of course willing to listen).

Your point about obtaining fraudulent documents is well taken but doesn't that somewhat negate your earlier one about requiring ID to vote? Your objections seem to lie more with identification fraud than with the fact that illegals can obtain them. Again, I'm all for improving and reforming our ID verification process because it would improve safety and security but the thought of an oft mentioned national ID card, especially one with a chip embedded that the government can track, makes me extremely nervous.

I'm also willing to review our national policy of automatically classifying the children of illegal immigrants who are born here as US citizens but I think that it's somewhat populist and intellectually lazy to just assume that those children will swell the welfare rolls. "It's pretty easy to blame illegals for most of society's problems (and many do) but the reality of the situation is that we're a vast and populous nation with a highly complicated and interrelated network of commerce, industry, society and culture that makes the impact of one minority group of people rather insignificant as it relates to the comprehensive problems of the whole."

That last sentence is from the conclusion of a post I wrote about this subject. You can check it out to if you want to test how "ideologically consistent" I am in my beliefs. And as always Don, enjoy deleting this comment if you so choose.

Lew, getting touchy in our old age, are we? My first mention of drugs coming across the border was a reference to dave in bocca bitching about drug lords. You then implied that "the very ones crying for amnesty and open borders just might be those who desire those illegal drugs" and yes, they might be. My point is that people screaming about amnesty and open borders are doing so because they most likely care much more about people coming here (legally or illegally) than they do about drugs.

And your inability to recognize and follow a consistent and logical thought, much less a significant fount of intelligence, is your own problem, my friend. And for the record, questioning my intelligence and then walking away from a discussion in a huff is no way to win an argument.

Which brings me to my good buddy Don. Chris, when Don says that I have "no consistent ideological thinking" what he means is that he disagrees with me and doesn't like me personally. I've put forth two ideas on this comment thread: 1) our border security (along with that of our airports, shipping ports and coastlines as well) is a farce that despite being a serious problem has been ignored by both major political parties and several past administrations and 2) the War on Drugs has proven to be a failure and only contributes to the violence plaguing our border problem by empowering and enriching Mexican drug lords.

Don classifies these views as inconsistent because 1) since I'm a "leftist" and a "nihilist" and any other "-ist" he labels me I apparently obviously believe that "a flood of indigenous supremacists is no BFD" despite my constant and consistent insistence that we need to strengthen our border security and 2) I believe that illicit drugs should be legalized and Don doesn't, hence my "inconsistency".

I don't just believe in my own right to get stoned, I believe it's yours and Don's and every other adult's in this country. Of course you don't have to but I believe as a free adult you should have the choice; Don believes that it's not only the federal government's job to tell adults what they can and can not put into their own bodies, it's the govenment's obligation to do so and if you don't go along with that you should be thrown in prison and have your life destroyed, hence the "paternalism" I abhor (and notice that the guy who mocks me for doing so only allows comments on his blog that he personally inspects and approves of). (cont. in next comment)

Everyone who is here illegally should be treated like an American would be treated if they were in their country without a Visa.We should model our law after Mexican law. Take the unemployed and give them $25 for every illegal they round up. I wonder how many people would like that job?

Yes, ron: Mexico. That's quite the high bar you've set for your country. But why stop there? Let's start basing US policy on examples set by enlightened Third World nations like Burma, North Korea and the Sudan. We could remake ourselves in the mold of Zimbabwe or Haiti. We could be the new Syria!

And your plan to pay the poor and desperate to randomly accost and round up people based on their race and appearance: genius. I'm pretty sure that Don already has a well-stocked cache of knee-jerk populist talking points but it's nice that you brought your own. Enjoy American Power.

What a bunch of scum-sucking pigs. We put up with a lot of shit, from a lot of people; too much. We're far too nice, generous and PC; and have been taken advantage of for too long.

These people keep this shit up, they're going to provoke us Americans into a race war. I don't really wanna see it, but if that's what it takes to wake-up Americans, and stand up and defend ourselves, so be it.

Looking at this bullshit does not make me feel sorry for these people. They play the victim in the media, and now we see how they really are. All it really does is make me want to fire up a flame thrower and have a bbq.

For a bunch of law breakers, they sure want rights. Get your rights in Mexico. Has anyone given these idiots the definition of (ILLEGAL)? There really needs some real drastic threat to these people when they come over here illegally. We Americans do not have any balls anymore. Catch them and make them build a wall and throw them back over in a couple of years.

I noticed earlier that you're now allowing anonymous comments, Don. As I always say, it's your blog so you can do whatever you want but I just assumed that talk of "flame thrower bbq's" for "scum-sucking pigs", forced manual labor for illegals and race wars might bother a sensitive fellow like yourself.

And is it just me or is someone saying the phrase "We Americans do not have any balls anymore" anonymously just the height of irony?

Lets face the facts here. Americans in the southwest US are being kicked out of their own country by an invasion force from south of the border. A full on ethnic cleansing of all non hispanic people will become a reality sooner rather than later. Americans lack the resolve and moral fiber to stop the coming genocide and you can all thank your good friends in the republican party for this crime...

Deport all these morons. Send'em back to wherever the hell they come from. White, Brown, Black, Pink, Yellow, Purple Polka Dotted. It doesnt' matter if their illegal, the hell with them, send'em back or throw them in jail. Sick and tired of these lunatics stealing our money and our freedom.

The cause is to inform, and enlighten, and to find a reasonable solution to the problem. Because we are all human. I have been discriminated against since birth and am an American. Profiled the whole nine yards, told to go back to my country of origin..and have made in the usa stamped on my ass. I stand on the side of humanity...Humanity..Men, women and children..Children whom will be left with out parents. When did we stop being human? We don't own this earth. Its on loan to us during our life time.....wow

Once upon a time, the land masses on this planet were populated with various tribes of people of different races. Most were migratory "hunter-gatherers", but some tribes learned to cultivate the land and raise crops. Some tribes intermarried with other tribes, and some warrior tribes simply conquered other tribes and assimilated their land, people and resources. This is all ancient history; everyone alive today has ancestors who both conquered and were conquered. Get over it.

I have great grandparents who were Danes, and some who were Germans living in the Volga. Does that mean I have "indigenous people's" rights to simply "migrate" to either one---or both---of those countries and claim some land as mine? Should I be marching in the streets because Danes and Germans can't "immigrate" HERE without permission of the American government? ...Especially, since Vikings "found" this continent long before Columbus?

If you want to be treated with the same "dignity" and respect of every other American, then ACT like an American; abandon your unAmerican, pan-national ethnic solidarity.

Well , it really dissapoints me to see this country made up of IMMIGRANTS Doesn't accept people who want to have a better life and a good education into this country. It's really sad to see all these Astonishing comments about hanging mexicans and killing them. I honestly don't think that that people who have that mentality Should even be called HUMANS. Were all the same species. Who cares what border seperates us? Nobody is inferior or superior in the eyes of god . Put yourselves in the shoes of these illegal mexicans . How do you think they feel? Not all of the mexicans are criminals and drug dealers . Every race has criminals so Dont go accusing Mexicans of all Your problems . Let's See whos going to give you thee fruits and vegatables and BEANS That SOME Of these americans consume each day. And if being illegal is Supposably a 'crime' isnt Racisim and discrimantion illegal ? YES . Now that deserves to be called a crime . Im proud to be a mexican but not very proud to be part of this country . . . i cannot Tolerate it. This is why im leaving to england .

Perla, my wife is also Mexican and she cannot stand seeing American laws openly violated so frivolously. America has and continues to welcome immigrants that come over legally.

That's the key you ignore, LEGALLY!

If you looked over the photos, which I highly doubt, that isn't of people seeking to better themselves or make the country better. That is people desiring to recreate the country to what they fled over hardships (supposedly).

Why supposedly? If Mexico is as great as they all claim, why the strong and dangerous efforts to flee it in the first place?

Then again, what if we adopted and enforced Mexico's immigration laws as they do?

At any rate, I hope you enjoy England. I wonder how long it will take you to find out they too have immigration laws and guess what?